What are the Pelicans doing?

[ThunderBolt]

Th flaws of their best players making building a reliable contender extremely difficult.

[pipfan]

Trae and Lavine to NO
CJ and #21 to Chi
BI and Daniels, plus the Laker 1st (assuming it moves to the '25 pick, since NO has the option)

NO goes with
Young/Alvarado
Lavine/Hawkins
Trey/Jones
Zion/Jones
MLE/Nance Jr

Plus all their own future picks and the Milw '27 1st (plus a swap).

Bulls go with
Ayo/CJ/Carter
White/CJ/Caruso
DDR/Caruso/Terry
PWill/#11/Phillips
Drummond/Vuc/#21
Or they let DDR walk/sign-and-trade him and go younger

ATL gets WAY better on D
Murray/BI/Johnson/Capela as their core, with Hunter, Griffin, #1 pick (Sarr)/Okongwu/Bufkin bench

[Statlanta]

Praying they get healthy like the mid 2010s Clippers but it seems a few players(Valanciunas, Ingram) have had enough.

[HotelVitale]

They’re pot committed to Zion. Sunk cost fallacy in real time. They probably should trade him but they’re going to try and ride the Zion bus until the wheels fall off.

It's not a sunk cost, just a strategic decision. Zion's doens't have great trade value because of his injury risk, but his upside means he's not 'sunk' and could be the center of a really nice team if he stays healthy. He just played 70 games this year and the Pelicans almost won 50 games, and they have enough talent on hand to lose BI and give the basic Zion-led team another shot. They also know a BI-led team aint it so can get something decent for him while also being able to afford their younger pieces (Herb/Trey Murphy/Daniels/Hawkins), let them continue to develop on a decent team with a couple vets around. If Zion's healthy and tuned in they can make some real noise, if not then they're still a pretty good team that has the option to go deeper into rebuild at any point.

I really don't think it's so bad to try to win another 50+ games and have a good exciting team with some young reinforcements, rather than selling off Zion and BI and maybe CJ and winning like 28-30 games next year. Just too early to pull the plug on the Zion experiment, and they have enough in the works that they don't have to.

[KingFox]

They need to find a way to move on from Zion. It just looks like it’s impossible for him to stay healthy which makes every other move not matter as much

[EmpireFalls]

After the way Zion played in the play-in game, the Pelicans would be absolutely crazy not to build around him.

With the way Zion exited that play-in game, the Pelicans would be absolutely crazy to build around him.

Health issues make a GM’s job incredibly tough.

[Lalouie]

I'm not sure I understand what direction the Pels are moving. Building a contender around Zion? Looking for a third piece around Zion and BI? Looking to retool? Looking to cut salary? Looking to blow it up?

Or are they simply happy to chug along where they are at?

they had their time. in the nba windows close but quick
..and they're doing 50 on the freeway

bi is a third option
zion is unhealthy
mccollum is old

[jazzfan1971]

OK. If I read the room correctly, NO is content to continue contending with Zion as their #1. Trying to win 50 games every year but knowing making much noise in the playoffs is probably unlikely unless one of their young players turns into a top 15 player.

Also will look to move BI for a lead guard in a lateral positional change move

[DaGawd]

Hoping Zion isn't spending the summer drinking himself full of soda pop.

I drink that stuff in my 20's. Now I will get sick if I drink MTN DEW.

That stuff is literally sugar in a can. Funny as you get older your taste buds change.

i imagine zion is a frequent visitor to cook out down there in the carolinas

[TheNewEra]

Their center rotation is about as bad as you could surround Zion with.

Fair point

JV is good. They had a solid roster this year.

Also so was Nance

[Astaluego]

Funny thing is they built a perfect team around Zion if he was the superstar they thought he would be. If he does become that guy they're in great shape. But odds of that happening aren't looking good

They would need a 5 that can defend and stretch the floor, to put next to Zion and a true PG in my opinion....

CJ for WCJ and Ingram for D.Murray

balances them quite well and they save to pay Murphy.

Murray/Herb/Murphy/Zion/WCJr

..Zion surrounded by 3D guys with a solid bench

Alvarado/Hawkins/Daniels/Marshall/Nance

[ShootersShoot]

It feels like zion has been in the league for much longer but he is only 23 yrs old. I just want to see their current core go through at least one playoff run. They have some good pieces, depth, and fun to watch.

[Chuck Everett]

New Orleans won't do it, but they should trade Zion and Ingram (and by extension McCollum). This build isn't going to take them anywhere in the short term or the long term. The Western Conference is too strong and deep to rely on injury prone stars.

Short term: OKC, Minnesota, Dallas, Denver and (healthy) Memphis are better.
Long term: San Antonio and Houston look more promising

With that being said, if they could pull off a trade of Ingram for Ayton, I'd feel a lot better about their roster balance, even if they are losing Naji Marshall in FA.

[JustBuzzin]

Hoping Zion isn't spending the summer drinking himself full of soda pop.

I drink that stuff in my 20's. Now I will get sick if I drink MTN DEW.

That stuff is literally sugar in a can. Funny as you get older your taste buds change.

i imagine zion is a frequent visitor to cook out down there in the carolinas

[jbk1234]

New Orleans won't do it, but they should trade Zion and Ingram (and by extension McCollum). This build isn't going to take them anywhere in the short term or the long term. The Western Conference is too strong and deep to rely on injury prone stars.

Short term: OKC, Minnesota, Dallas, Denver and (healthy) Memphis are better.
Long term: San Antonio and Houston look more promising

With that being said, if they could pull off a trade of Ingram for Ayton, I'd feel a lot better about their roster balance, even if they are losing Naji Marshall in FA.

Ayton has, at best, nuetral value so that shouldn't be difficult. The problem is they really can't commit $30M at center.

[Wolveswin]

BI for trae?

lol Trae >>> Ingram

[djsunyc]

BI for trae?

lol Trae >>> Ingram

there would be picks involved.

[Wolveswin]

BI for trae?

lol Trae >>> Ingram

there would be picks involved.

And? So Hawks are punting on their own desire to win-now in exchange for Pels’ needs?!?

And what happens when/if Ingram bolts - because you know an expiring Unrestricted Free Agent can do that.

Trades need to - in some realm of RGM reality - consider needs of both teams.

[louc1970]

I suggest Pelicans and Cavs deal.
Cavs send Allen, Strus, Mitchell
Pelicans send Ingram, McCollum, #17 and #21.

Both teams risk a player walking. For moving McCollum for Allen, Pels offer their draft picks this year.

Thought of making this 2 trades and having Strus for JV in a S&T. I but wasn’t sure if it was legal.

[djsunyc]

lol Trae >>> Ingram

there would be picks involved.

And? So Hawks are punting on their own desire to win-now in exchange for Pels’ needs?!?

And what happens when/if Ingram bolts - because you know an expiring Unrestricted Free Agent can do that.

Trades need to - in some realm of RGM reality - consider needs of both teams.

i mean ultimately, nobody knows what the hawks want to do. i just threw out names of 2 guys that may need to change scenery. ingram + picks for trae is about as good as a deal you can hope for with trae if they plan to move him. what other player that's better than ingram can you get for trae?